Abstract

In this paper, we outline a model of the de facto ‘presidentialization’ of politics which we believe to be affecting, to some degree or other, many of the world’s most well-established democracies, including those with parliamentary regimes. The development of more candidate-centred electoral processes tends to afford political leaders a sense that they have earned personal mandates from voters, and this in turn lends them greater autonomy from their parties and greater authority within executives. Although this does not mean that parliamentary regimes have now become indistinguishable from presidential systems, it does tend to undermine the party government model in a number of ways: government decisions are more clearly tied to leadership decisions rather than party policies; party still matters in electoral processes, but elections are increasingly about individual leaders in some countries; and the route to the leadership seems increasingly likely to be defined by the (perceived) electoral appeal of certain personalities.